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VMA students win script writing competition
Two Visual and Media Arts students recently won the Ivy Film Festival's undergraduate shorts writing competition, marking wins for the department's students for the second year in a row.
Armando Vazquez '14 and Jesse Sheehan '14 won the festival's inaugural television pilot writing competition and were honored at a ceremony April 14 at Brown University in Providence. Vazquez was among the students who won an award last year.
Vazquez won this year for Limbo Lane, a contemporary adaptation of the O. Henry short story Dream. In Vazquez's short film script, an inmate on death row meets with his old friend, a minister. The two spend the last minutes of the inmate's life discussing morality, ethics, and the role religion played in their lives.
Vazquez said his parents became very emotional upon hearing he won the Ivy Film Festival award, saying his mother shouted in excitement and his father shed tears.
"Our family has been struggling with several things for the past three years," Vazquez said, "and I think any good news that I bring back makes him very happy. The fact that I'm succeeding at something he knows I love and that he loves himself… just turns him into a big, mushy faucet."
Sheehan won for Alt, an animated half-hour comedy in which a scientist travels to an alternate universe, and inadvertently acquires his dream job as a field agent for a secret government organization.
"I loved the idea of parallel universes so I wanted to incorporate that into the plot somehow," said Sheehan, who compared his pilot to a comedy version of the Fox science fiction show Fringe.
"My parents have always been very supportive of me," Sheehan said, "but I think this is the first time they realized the quality of my writing has improved from silly videos I made in high school to something that's actually award-winning."
Emerson also had three students named finalists in the Ivy Film Festival writing competition: Sophia Youssef '14, Miller Pipkin '14 and Jacqeline Sosa '14 in the categories of undergraduate shorts, graduate shorts, and TV pilot, respectively. Several students also were named finalists in the Acclaim TV writing competition. The students in these competitions wrote their scripts in Associate Professor James Macak's courses: Writing the Television Pilot and Writing the Short Subject.

subset: commoncrawl


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Blog Action Day next Monday
Apparently there are now over 9,000 blogs (including this one) signed-up to take part in the first ever Blog Action Day, next Monday 15th October.
All participating bloggers will be dedicating that day's posts to things related to the environment. So, if you know of any great online fundraising or campaigning work for environmental organisations that you think should be given a mention then do let me know.


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Console Corner: Onrush review
Imagine you're in a video game lab trying to make an original racing game and you splice together Motorstorm and Overwatch... Onrush is what would come out the other side.
Onrush is a vehicular combat game developed by Codemasters and published by Deep Silver for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows.
You take control of cars, motorcycles and off-road vehicles across huge levels over hilly terrains with nitro-style boosts to boot.
You earn said boost juice by performing stunts and slamming rival combatants to take them out.
But this is no racing game. Yes there are winners and losers but there's not a finishing line in sight. And I love it.
For example in Overdrive, teams score points by boosting; the first team to boost enough to reach the target score wins.
Countdown involves a series of checkpoints and a timer that drains but teams can keep it from running out by successfully passing the checkpoints, and if one team's timer runs out, the other team scores a point.
Lockdown is a King of the Hill-style mode in which teams fight to stay inside a zone that moves along the track with them for points.
Switch gives each member of the team three lives and tasks the teams with taking each other down to win, but upon crashing, a player will respawn in a more powerful vehicle if they have lives left.
I seem to have a bad habit of comparing video games to previous titles at the moment and Onrush really doesn't compare to anything I've played before but it is like the Royal Rumble of racing game or a Super Smash Bros melee mix.
Literally buzzing with originality, online car-brawls are the new pick up and play addiction to bide the time between the next big first person shooter multiplayer release. This innovative approach screams of the kind of unique IPs that made Codemasters such a force in video game history.
The all-important gameplay is on point while superb graphics and a wide variety of vast tracks add icing to a delicious cake.
There are some issues with takedowns and there are reports that glitches are seeing teams awarded points they haven't earned in some game modes - although for the record I am yet to experience or at least notice that myself.
But it takes little away from what is one of the best, most unique, original, fun, addictive and downright brilliant games I have played in a long time. Simply wicked.


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Adeela 19 years, from Multan. If any one want to SMS Friendship her
then Contact at number 0302-5202166
Another city girls mobile number if you have, please share with us.


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Stone Age engraving traditions appear on ostrich eggshells
Standardized designs identified on 60,000-year-old water containers
By Bruce Bower
Long before human communication evolved into incessant tapping on computer keys, people scratched on eggshells.
Don't laugh—researchers say a cache of ostrich eggshells engraved with geometric designs demonstrates the existence of a symbolic communication system around 60,000 years ago among African hunter-gatherers.
The unusually large sample of 270 engraved eggshell fragments, mostly excavated over the past several years at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa, displays two standard design patterns, according to a team led by archaeologist Pierre-Jean Texier of the University of Bordeaux 1 in Talence, France. Each pattern enjoyed its own heyday between approximately 65,000 and 55,000 years ago, the investigators report in a paper to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers already knew that the Howiesons Poort culture, which engraved the eggshells, engaged in other symbolic practices, such as engraving designs into pieces of pigment, that were considered to have been crucial advances in human behavioral evolution. But the Diepkloof finds represent the first archaeological sample large enough to demonstrate that Stone Age people created design traditions, at least in their engravings, Texier says.
Evidence of intentionally produced holes in several Diepkloof eggshells indicates that ancient people made what amounted to canteens out of them, a practice that researchers have documented among modern hunter-gatherers in southern Africa.
The engraved patterns probably identified the eggshells as the property of certain groups or communities, Texier proposes.
"The Diepkloof engravings were clearly made for visual display and recognized as such by a large audience comprising members of a community, and probably members of related communities," comments University of Bordeaux 1 archaeologist Francesco d'Errico, who was not involved in the new study.
D'Errico participated in the recent unearthing of 13 pieces of engraved pigment at South Africa's Blombos Cave dating to between 100,000 and 75,000 years ago. Along with perforated sea shells and other personal ornaments previously excavated in Africa and the Middle East, these discoveries show that items holding symbolic meaning were made more than 60,000 years ago by both modern humans and Neandertals.
Even more exciting, according to archaeologist Curtis Marean of Arizona State University in Tempe, is the presence of drinking spouts in the South African eggshells. Water containers opened a new world of travel across arid regions for ancient people, he notes.
"The ability to carry and store water is a breakthrough technological advance, and here we have excellent evidence for it very early," Marean says. "Wow!"
Eggshell fragments from the oldest sediment layers at Diepkloof display a hatched-band motif. These engravings consist of two long, parallel lines intersected by varying numbers of short lines. Some specimens contain one hatched band, while others display remnants of two or three. Engravers always fashioned parallel lines first and then inserted regularly spaced intersecting lines, Texier says.
Eggshells from younger soil layers at Diepkloof contain patterns consisting of deeply engraved, parallel lines that sometimes converge or intersect. One eggshell fragment from these layers exhibits a different pattern—slightly curved horizontal lines that cross a central, vertical line.
Of the many Howiesons Poort sites in southern Africa that have yielded ostrich eggshells, only Diepkloof shows evidence of stylistic engraving traditions, Texier says.


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Eat Sugar Eat Sugar want you to know that they are a rock band, but you might need to reevaluate what you've come to think that is. Find yourself at one of their shows and you'll hear electronics, but you won't see a laptop - nothing prerecorded or sampled, only dudes laying into their instruments like their lives depend on it. You'll also notice that by freeing themselves from the tyranny of the guitar, the band has opened up a world of ways to forgo the familiar while still rocking out. Their two critically acclaimed self-released EPs have received praise from Artrocker Magazine and landed them a spot as Spin's Artist of The Day as they've rocked stages everywhere from New York to London to the wilds of Arkansas. Combining a classic Post-Punk drive with a modern Electro sheen, Eat Sugar are coming soon to a dark, sweaty club near you. Bring your dancing shoes. |
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Rick Warren's New Health and Wellness Initiative Could Have Profound Repercussions on Many
Editors at Lighthouse Trails
Lighthouse Trails Publishing
January 11, 2011
Just ten days after Lighthouse Trails posted its last and most important article of 2010, Rick Warren's "Apologetics" Weekend Should Apologize for Representing "Another Gospel," we must issue this Special Report regarding a year-long event that will be kicking off at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church on January 15th.
Near the end of 2010, Rick Warren announced that Saddleback Church would be entering "a Decade of Destiny." He told his congregation that they would be focusing on several key areas, one of them being "health and wellness." The "Daniel Challenge" or the "Daniel Plan" is Saddleback's new health "initiative." ' On Saddleback's website, it states:
"Gods' Prescription For Your Health
Be a part of this transformational debut to be a healthier you!
The kick-off event is next weekend, January 15. We'll hear from world-renowned doctors on a plan to get healthy and stay that way in the new decade."
Who are the "world-renowned doctors" that will be helping to kick off Saddleback's Decade of Destiny? Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Mark Hyman. The video on the website states that this program has been "Exclusively Designed for Saddleback Church by Three of the Leading Health Specialists in America."
Let us get right to the point: The three doctors who have put together a 52-week health program for Saddleback congregants are absolute advocates and proponents of not just eastern-style meditation but actual eastern meditation and much much more as this article will reveal. Right off, let us say that if you are thinking perhaps that these doctors will only advise Saddleback on legitimate health advice (exercise, healthy eating, etc.) take a look at this video (taken place at Saddleback) between Rick Warren and Dr. Daniel Amen. Amen intends to help Saddleback participants to have good "brain health," which he firmly believes comes from meditation. In this video, he openly discusses meditation with Rick Warren.
What are the spiritual underpinnings of the meditation these three doctors are propagating? This report will lay it out for you.
Dr. Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, is the author of over 25 books. He teaches techniques that will improve "brain health," claiming that poor brain health is associated with a host of problems from overeating to depression. As Dr. Amen describes in the video you just saw, he includes meditation (and in fact this is his primary tool) as a way to have a healthy brain.
It is the nature of this meditation that sets Dr. Amen apart from any other individual that Lighthouse Trails has ever written about concerning Rick Warren. In a 6-CD set called Create a More Passionate Night, ' Dr. Amen has teamed up with advanced certified Tantra educator, T. J. Bartel. It is important that you visit Bartel's website to better understand the nature of what he stands for. By the way, when you hear Bartel say "Namaste," this means the god in me bows down to the god in ' you. We have discussed tantric sex in a number of ' Lighthouse Trails articles in the past, such as one called What's Sex Got to Do with It?" Please refer to this article if you are unfamiliar with this spiritual practice. In essence, Tantra or tantric sex is the use of Hinduistic-type mysticism during sexual intercourse. Please listen to what Ray Yungen has to say about Tantra and the serious implications of it:
"Tantra is the name of the ancient Hindu sacred texts that contain certain rituals and secrets. Some deal with taking the energies brought forth in meditation through the chakras and combining them with love-making to enhance sexual experiences.
"Once completely off-limits to the masses of humanity, Tantra, like all other New Age methodologies, is now starting to gain increasing popularity. . . . The potential to impact a very great number of people, especially men, was brought out in an article by a sex workerwho incorporates "Tantric Bodywork" into her services. . . . ' she has turned to Tantric Union to give her clients what she feels is not just sex but "union with the divine." . . . ' Now the "multitudes of men" who come to her get much more than they bargained for. In the past, wives and girlfriends needed only to worry about sexually transmitted diseases from cheating husbands and boyfriends, but now their men may instead bring home spiritual entities! (For Many Shall Come in My Name, Yungen, pp. 115-116)"
We are sorry to be so frank – but we must – we are dealing with Rick Warren, ' "America's Pastor" and one of the most, perhaps the most, influential evangelical leaders today. And in just a few days, he will be starting a 52-week health program that has been designed by Dr. Amen, a tantric sex activist! Dr. Amen expresses his strong feelings about tantric in his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body:
"In my book, The Brain in Love, I wrote about Tantric sexual practices, and was fascinated by the concept . . . ' I wanted to experience it for myself and thought it would be a wonderful way to enhance my relationship with my wife, Tana. . . . ' T.J. Bartel . . . became our teacher . . . I felt as if I had to share his knowledge with everyone I knew." (p. 283)"
Everyone he knows? Will that include Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, and even overflow to thousands of Purpose Driven churches? That could potentially be millions of people. On the video interview with Rick Warren and Dr. Amen, Warren states that Dr. Amen's resources would be available for those attending the seminar this coming weekend. In almost all of the "resources" by ' Dr. Amen, he ' advocates eastern meditation. In some of the books, he devotes many many pages to meditation practices. On page 238 of Amen's Making a Good Brain Great, he states: "I recommend an active form of yoga meditation called Kriya Kirtan. It is based on the five primal sounds saa, taa, naa, maa, aa." He tells readers to repeat these sounds for 12 minutes straight.
Many of you have heard of New Age leader Eckhart Tolle, whose 2008 book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose was highly popularized by Oprah. Tolle stated that the book's purpose was to bring about a "shift in consciousness" (pp. 6-7). In his earlier book, The Power of Now, he speaks of ' this "consciousness," what he considers a christ-consciousness:
"Christ is your God-essence or the Self, as it is sometimes called in the East. The only difference between Christ and presence is that Christ refers to your indwelling divinity regardless of whether you are conscious of it or not, whereas presence means your awakened divinity or God-essence. (p. 104)"
For more on Eckhart Tolle and the great awakening that New Agers seek after for the planet, read Warren B. Smith's 4-part article, " The Great Heretical Idea: Oprah and Eckhart Do the New Age Shift." Dr. Daniel Amen talks about Tolle's The Power of Now in his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, calling Tolle's book "extraordinary."
Dr. Amen's meditation technique of choice is Kriya Kirtan, as we stated above. This is a form of kundalini yoga (see his book,The Brain in Love, p. 146). Those who have studied with discernment the New Age, know that kundalini (or serpent power) is the spiritual "energy" behind meditation. Ray Yungen explains the relationship between kundalini and the chakras:
"The chakras act as conduits or conductors for what is called kundalini or serpent energy. They say this force lies coiled but dormant at the base of the spine like a snake. When awakened during meditation, it is supposed to travel up the spine activating each chakra as it surges upward. When the kundalini force hits the crown chakra, the person experiences enlightenment or Self-realization. This mystical current results in the person knowing himself to be God. That is why kundalini is sometimes referred to as the divine energy. According to New Age proponents, all meditative methods involve energy and power, and the greater the power, the greater the experience. (FMSC, pp. 76-77)"
Dr. Mark Hyman, one of the three doctors who "designed" the "Daniel Challenge" for Saddleback , is another strong advocate for mystical meditation. In his book, The Ultramind Solution, Hyman emphasizes meditation, saying that it doesn't matter what religion one has to benefit from it (p. 322). Dr. Hyman suggests that "Mindful meditation is a powerful well-researched tool, developed by Buddhists" (p. 384). On the front cover of The Ultramind Solution, sits an endorsement by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the third doctor who will be training Saddleback on health.
Anyone who watches daytime television, in particular Oprah, will know the name Dr. Oz, a highly renowned cardiovascular surgeon. ' It was Oprah who featured him on her show for five years, making him a household name, which eventually led to his own television show, one of the most popular shows on television.
Last February, Lighthouse Trails posted a piece titled "Dr. Oz Tells Millions of Americans: 'Try Reiki!'" In January 2010, Dr. Oz brought a Reiki master onto his show to demonstrate Reiki and then ended the show saying, ' "try Reiki" as the #1 "Oz's Order." It would make sense that Dr. Oz would tell his viewers to try Reiki – his wife is a Reiki practitioner. One press release related:
"Reiki Masters across America and the world had cause for celebration on January 6 when Dr. Mehmet Oz revealed his Ultimate Alternative Medicine Secrets for 2010 during his nationally broadcast afternoon talk show. He ranked Reiki #1. Dr. Oz said, "˜Reiki is one of my favorites, we've been using it for years in the Oz family, and we swear by it.'"
As Lighthouse Trails has documented for years, Reiki is a type of "energy healing" that is based on the New Age chakra system and puts those practicing it into contact with the realm of familiar spirits. If this sounds far fetched, listen to what one Reiki master wrote in the Everything Reiki Book:
"During the Reiki attunement process, the avenue that is opened within the body to allow Reiki to flow through also opens up the psychic communication centers. ' This is why many Reiki practitioners report having verbalized channeled communications with the spirit world. (cited in A Time of Departing, p. 97)"
Recently, we posted a YouTube video that describes the spiritual consequences of practicing Reiki. The person doing the video told the story of one woman, who after practicing Reiki came into contact with 35 spirit guides, and she was unable to rid herself of them. They told her they would be with her forever. If you have not yet viewed this 10 minute video, it is imperative that you do. Reiki is a catalyst ' or channel, as stated earlier, into the spirit world. This is not a silly, nonsensical ritual with no meaning. This is serious stuff!
How serious? Consider this: A book titled The Instruction written by Ainslie MacLeod, is described by the publisher as the following:
"Have you ever sensed that your life has a deeper, more meaningful purpose–but don't know what it is? If so, you're not alone. To help you and the millions like you, psychic Ainslie MacLeod's spirit guides have given him a systematic approach to uncovering who you really are–and the life your soul has planned for you. They call it The Instruction. Now, for the first time, this unique teaching is offered as a step-by-step program for realizing personal fulfillment. The Instruction will take you through ten "doorways" to unveil the life plan your soul created before you were even born."
In the ' foreword written by MacLeod, he says the "purpose of the book is to understand the coming shift in consciousness that is poised to sweep the planet. This transformation will affect everyone of us in some way." This book, which is given by spirit guides and lays out the basic foundation for the New Age impressed Dr. Oz so much that he wrote an endorsement for the front cover. He stated: ' "I recommend this book to those who seek greater spiritual well-being and a better understanding of their life's purpose." Dr. Oz's endorsement is also on the front cover of MacLeod's 2010 book, The Transformation: Healing Your Past Lives to Realize Your Soul's Potential,where he exclaimed: "Ainslie MacLeod is at the frontier of exploration into the soul and its profound influence on our physical selves."
Make no mistake about it – Reiki, meditation, tantric sex – these are very powerful mystical experiences that have the capability to delude and deceive those who are involved with it. While many of the health ideas these three doctors share in their books and DVDs are legitimate (exercise, vitamins, and good diet, etc.), these doctors firmly believe in meditation and want to make it widely accepted and embraced and have interwoven this belief into their programs. As Dr. Amen admitted himself, he wants to tell everyone he knows about meditation. Rick Warren and Saddleback are in danger as could be the millions who Rick Warren influences.
We urge all discerning believers to contact their own pastors ' and any other pastors or leaders they know to warn them about what is taking place in the name of wellness and fitness in the church. We urge you also to contact ministries who have, in one way or another, either through consent or silence, supported the "new" spirituality that is trying to enter the church and tell them where it leads. ' The wellness and fitness aspect of this is just another face of this whole movement that is impacting our entire culture.
In this plea, consider what Roger Oakland stated at the end of Faith Undone:
"There are still pastors and churches dedicated to proclaiming the truth. Find out where they are and support them. If you are in a location where this does not seem to be possible, seek out materials that are available from solid Bible-based Christian ministries and hold Bible studies in your homes.
"When Jesus returns, He will not find a utopian world filled with peace but one in shambles, unrest, violence, and war for having forsaken the Word of God, the true Gospel, and the One true God. Rather than being a time when He will praise the world for discovering its christ-consciousness, He will come as a Judge and powerful King (p. 230)."
Let us hold fast to the truth, and in considering the fact that compromising our spiritual health and wellness is never the right avenue to physical wellness, remember the words Paul spoke to the Romans. He did not tell them to entertain spirit guides, practice mantra meditation, yoga, or Reiki. This was his instruction to believers:
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12: 1-2"
As important as physical health may be, we must remember that our bodies are only temporal. Yes, we should take care of them, but in the process we should not do as Esau did and sell out our spiritual heritage for a bowl of pottage.


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Attention Harstine Island Campers
Due to an agreement between Teamsters Local 313 and the State of Washington to lease a small section of the campground near the boat launch for salmon pen construction and launch, sites 38-47 will not be available for reservations from Oct 10th through Dec 20th. Thank you for your understanding!
Teamsters Local 313 Harstine Island Recreation Property Campsite #39
Important Info
Check In
Check Out
Active Members, Retirees, and Guests
Effective April 1, 2022
Overnight camping is $30.00 (electrical fee and environmental fee included) per night for members of Local 313.
Overnight camping is $25.00 (electrical fee and environmental fee included) for Local 313 Retirees.
Overnight camping is $ $35.00 (electrical fee and environmental fee included) for all other Teamsters, Retirees from other Teamster Locals and guests.
All boats that tie up, anchor out, come ashore, or utilize the property is $10.00 per day/night stay.
If you are not camping and use a spot for the day there will be a charge of $7.00 per day/per car and an additional charge of $5.00 per day/per car for electricity.
Oysters are $7.00 per dozen (a receipt is needed from Caretaker to remove oysters in shell from Island).
Ice is $3.00 per bag.
It is $5.00 a night for each additional tent per site. NOTE: If the additional tent(s) are used by someone other than an immediate family member living in your household they will be charged the guest rate.
Day Party and Club House Rental : See caretaker for prices.
Note: For the Annual Local 313 Picnic there will be no charge Friday and Saturday for ACTIVE 313 MEMBERS ONLY and only Active 313 Members are able to camp in waterfront spots. 7


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From J. Integrated Omics. DOI: 10.5584/jiomics.v2012i2012.76 |
One of the greatest things about open access papers in my mind is the ability to use the figures for blogs, classes, etc, without having to consult lawyers and other paper pushers. So I am starting a new series here where I highlight some fun/good figures from various open access papers.
The one shown above is from "How has the recent high-throughput sequencing revolution improved our knowledge of infant microbial colonization and health. J. Integrated Omics. DOI: 10.5584/jiomics.v2012i2012.76. By Adrien Fischer, Katrine Whiteson, Vladimir Lazarevic, Jonathan Hibbs, Patrice Francois, Jacques Schrenzel


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Pumpkin Beers Don't Have to Be the Worst Thing to Drink This Fall
In 1984, there was one pumpkin beer in America. This October, there are more than 500. We find the best ones from the patch
When Bill Owens in Hayward, Calif. first brewed a pumpkin beer in the early 1980s, no one else in modern craft brewing history had done such a clever thing. His project, so it is said, was inspired by historical records indicating that George Washington had used squashes—and possibly pumpkins—in experimental homebrews. Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale became popular over the years and remains so some 30 years after its birth.
But today, that maverick beer stands modestly amid hundreds of others like it. For autumn beers celebrating America's most iconic squash have become ubiquitous: The summer nears its end, and brewers across the continent get busy in unison adding a blizzard of spices and cooked pumpkin (sometimes fresh, sometimes out of a can) to their tanks of fermenting beer. By October and November, pumpkin brews are as commonplace as jack-o-lanterns, and from a glance at a supermarket beer aisle, one might think that America's craft brewers had run out of ideas.
Many pumpkin beers taste about the same, brewed with roughly the same flurry of autumn spices–which is fine. Most beers of any given style, after all–whether IPAs, porters or pilsners–have a similar flavor profile. The trouble with pumpkin beers is that they can be hard to handle if too liberally spiced. William Bostwick, beer critic for the Wall Street Journal and author of the forthcoming history of beer and brewing, "The Brewer's Tale," notes that the standard potpourri of spices used in pumpkin beer–cinnamon and nutmeg, and usually a few others–can turn "acrid, bitter, and cloying" if they are boiled for too long. Bostwick says he has found the worst of these beers to "taste like allspice soup."
He points out, too, that pumpkin beers generally don't taste like pumpkin at all.
"On the whole, these are basically pumpkin pie beers," Bostwick says. "What you taste is spices. I'm not sure most people even know what pumpkin itself really tastes like."
Indeed, the flavor of pumpkin is so mild that it can be almost undetectable even in a lightly spiced beer. In Half Moon Bay, California, a town surrounded by pumpkin fields, the local brewery has been making a pumpkin beer every fall for 10 years. But this year, the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company toned down the recipe, from eight pounds of nutmeg, clove, allspice, cinnamon and mace in last year's 500-gallon batch to just one meager pound for the current release.
"I specifically wanted it to taste like pumpkin, not pie," brewmaster James Costa says. The beer, available only on draft, is decidedly unspicy—so unspicy that one might entirely fail to notice that the reddish hued, creamy topped ale is spiced at all. The pumpkin, meanwhile, is faint, as nature intended this humble squash to be.
Dawn Letner has perhaps never tasted that pumpkin beer. She owns the Chico Home Brew Shop in Chico, Calif., where she frequently sends home customers during October and November with pumpkin beer recipes.
For her, most pumpkin beers are almost intolerable.
"I might buy a bottle now and then, but definitely not a 6-pack," Letner says. "Do you really want to sit and drink more than one of these spicy cinnamon bombs? For me, the answer is no. If I did want to, I'd just make a spiced tea and add a shot of alcohol."
Sean Lilly Wilson, owner and founder of Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, N.C., makes a wide array of unusual fruit and vegetable beers to celebrate the autumn–but he has chosen not to make a beer featuring the pumpkin.
"There are enough pumpkin beers in the world," he says, adding that he doesn't much care for the style. "They're often so overly spiced that they've lost all nuances. Some of the most celebrated pumpkin beers are just too much for me."
To make pumpkin beers, some brewers use freshly harvested pumpkins, roasted until the starches turn gooey and sweet. Buffalo Bill's Brewery, for one, has long used the jumbo pumpkins famous for their hippo-like dimensions, if not their flavor. Half Moon Bay Brewing, on the other hand uses apple-sized sugar pie pumpkins–though Costa concedes that the variety of squash used is probably irrelevant. Other brewers use only pumpkin concentrate, rendered from cooked pumpkins and reduced to a dense, extremely sweet juice and purchased in cans. The pumpkin is added at varying stages of the brewing process, sometimes prior to boiling, other times toward the end of fermentation. Late in the process, too, the spices are added, and another pie-flavored pumpkin beer hits the shelf.
Whether you disdain pumpkin beers, simply tolerate them for a few weeks or wait all summer for them, you must give credit to Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale. Though the mild chai-tasting beer receives consistently poor reviews on beer rating forums, it was the original of what has become a wildly popular style, with almost countless examples now on the market. As of this writing, Beer Advocate's online rating forum included no less than 529 pumpkin beers–most, if not all of them, spiced like mulled wine. And at the Great American Beer Festival, an annual fall event in Colorado, pumpkin beers occupy their very own category. Clearly, no matter the scorn felt by some critics, America loves these beers. Geoff Harries, the owner of Buffalo Bill's since 1994, says demand continues to grow for his pumpkin ale, which is now distributed in 43 states, and he said in an interview that from October to November, the beer-drinking public goes into a state of "hyper-excitement" over pumpkin beers. Come December, though, the interest peters to a stop.
Even if you aren't hyper-excited about pumpkin beers, it's worth exploring the category for the oddball renditions some breweries have introduced:
- Oak Jacked, from Uinta Brewing Company, in Salt Lake City, is a sweet, deep brown ale with more than 10 percent alcohol and is aged in whiskey barrels for a creamy, vanilla-Chardonnay finish.
- New Belgium's pumpkin beer, named Pumpkick, includes cranberry juice and lemongrass for an unusual, tart and zesty interpretation.
- Elysian Brewing Company, in Seattle, makes a well-liked pumpkin beer, too–a copper-colored imperial style named The Great Pumpkin. This brewery, in fact, has held an annual pumpkin beer festival since 2005. The event's centerpiece is a jumbo pumpkin filled with beer and tapped like a keg.
But of the many off-center pumpkin beers available, a few stand alone as marvels of beer making. Perhaps most extreme of them all is a boozy ale called Rumpkin, from Avery Brewing Company.
"I'm one of the biggest pumpkin beer fans in the world," says Adam Avery, the man who created this beer. As the founder of the brewery, Avery has garnered a reputation over the years for making some of the most outlandish, aggressive, almost unapproachable beers in the world. "I would drink pumpkin beers every day if I could, and it seemed weird that I had never made one before. So we thought, 'Let's make a pumpkin beer, and let's make it the granddaddy of them all.'"
And unless we overlooked something grander, Rumpkin is it. The dark, cognac-like beer, which tastes of vanilla, coconut and dark chewy fruits, has been aged in rum barrels and weighs in at 18.6-percent alcohol.
Autumn is the season of abundance, diversity and color–not just pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins–and Fullsteam Brewery, at least, seems to recognize this. The small facility, now just three years old, released a persimmon ale this fall named First Frost after the seasonal event which traditionally marks the ripening of the persimmon crop. Wilson, Fullsteam's owner, is also getting set to brew a fig-chestnut beer, named Fruitcake, and a pawpaw beer, named Pawpaw, while a sweet potato lager, named Carver, is available year round on draft at the brewery.
None of these fall and winter beers are spiced.
"We're not in the scented candle business," Wilson quips. "We're in the craft beer business. We want to let people taste the ingredients we're using."
As for those spicy pumpkin beers, Bostwick, for all his skepticism, gets why brewers make them like they do:
"No one wants to buy a pumpkin beer expecting it to taste like pumpkin pie and finding that it tastes like nothing."
They'd rather, it seems, have it taste like allspice soup.


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Shuler left with Republican-leaning district after new maps slice liberal Asheville out of WNC
Democrats are crying foul over new Congressional district lines that with seemingly surgical precision slice the City of Asheville, a liberal stronghold, out of the 11th Congressional District.
The maps, drawn by state Republican leaders in the the GOP-dominated General Assembly, are no doubt a political move, according to Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.
"This is the game that both parties play," Cooper said. "They know exactly what they are doing."
The new 11th Congressional District would include Mitchell, Avery, Caldwell and Burke counties. In exchange, the district divests itself of Asheville and eastern Buncombe, as well as Polk County. The mountain district will shift from 43 percent of the voters being registered Democrats to 36 percent.
The result: a far more conservative voting base, and much more difficult re-election campaing next year for three-term Democrat Congressman Heath Shuler of Waynesville.
Shuler seized the district in 2006 over eight-term incumbent Charles Taylor, R-Transylvania County, and has easily won back his seat every election since. His opponent last fall was considered an admirable opponent, and the year was a watershed for Republicans, but even then Shuler handily kept his seat with more than 54 percent of the vote.
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That may not be the case in 2012 given the new district lines, however. Shuler is one of several previously Democratic-leaning districts that has been infused with just enough GOP voters to tip the balance.
As for what to do with all those Democratic voters? The best bet is to lump as many as possible into as few districts as possible. In otherwords, pick a few Democratic-leaning districts to be sacrifical lambs. Stack them heavily with Democrats, while spreading Republican voters around to have just enough of an edge in as many districts as possible.
"Any vote after 50 plus one is a wasted vote," Cooper said. "The reason you do that is not to dominate a few districts but to win a lot of districts by a little bit."
All the while, however, the districts must make geographic sense or else risk being overturned in a court battle. If the other party can prove gerrymandering and show that districts are not geographically "compact," a lawsuit over the district lines is likely.
In this instance, Cooper doesn't think the new mountain districts cross that line. He sees the districts being geographically close enough to be bullet proof in court, yet still achieving their purpose of favoring Republicans.
"They did a great job of it. The more I look at the more impressed I am," Cooper said.
Mike Clampitt of the Swain County Republican Party said the redrawing wasn't tit-for-tat as it might appear — Democrats have a long history of gerrymandering districts in North Carolina — but a case of putting likes with likes.
"This balances the playing field," Clampitt said. "Asheville is more like the Greensboro and Charlotte area."
That metropolitan, urban mindset is at odds with the rural understandings and needs of the bulk of the 11th Congressional District, Clampitt said.
Members of the opposing party see the situation differently, however: "Democrats will not take this lying down," promised Janie Benson of the Haywood County Democratic Party.
"I'm stunned, because the distance between Caldwell county and Cherokee county is so great," Benson said, adding that the redistricting proposed by Republicans is a "blatant" attempt to wrest the district from Democrats.
"Frankly the redistricting maps that I've seen just look unfair," she said. "The Democrats, to my knowledge, have never been so obvious in whatever they were doing. This just seems almost like a punishment, and it feels that way somewhat."
In addition to threatening Democrats hold on the 11th Congressional District, Democrats could also lose control of the 7th, 8th and 13th districts.
But Kirk Callahan of Haywood County, a self-described conservative, believes Republicans might be missing the mark some. While cautioning he hasn't had time to fully assess the potential voter fallout, Callahan thinks the growing bloc of unaffiliated voters could actually dictate who wins and who loses.
"They are key," Callahan said. "A candidate has to earn the votes, because they are not going to be swayed by party labels or an appeal to party loyalty."
Callahan, by way of example, pointed to Taylor's defeat, saying he was dismayed by the longtime congressman's unabashed support of earmarks.
"That didn't sit well with me, because (earmarks) really corrupted the budgeting process," he said.
Lawmakers will vote on the redistricting plan in a special session that starts July 25.
Across the state, there were five districts that posted major geographical shifts. Four are seats currently held by vulnerable Democrats that have now seen the scales tip in their district to favor Republicans — as is the case with Shuler's district. The fifth that showed the biggest changes was held by a vulnerable Republican, but is now more solidly Republican.
"It is really clear they targeted these vulnerable Democrats," Cooper said.
Shuler's new district would be the most Republican-leaning district in the state when judging by those who voted for McCain over Obama in 2008.
Shuler is a conservative Democratic at best — others considered him a DINO, or Democrat In Name Only — and plays well with conservative Southern Democrats and even many Republicans.
But under the new district lines, even that may not be enough, Cooper said.
"For Shuler to win he would have to practicaly completely separate himself from the Democratic party," Cooper said. "This is going to be a really intersting race."
Why the new voting maps?
Every 10 years, along with the census, state legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn to reflect the population change. As the population grows, so does the number of people each elected leader represents.
The state's Congressional District will need to grow from the current 619,177 people to the 733,499 each, plus or minus 5 percent.
Since growth was more robust in urban areas, districts in rural regions like Western North Carolina will have to expand geographically to take in the required number of people.
Under the proposed new maps, which sever Asheville from the district, it would lose 9,000 Democrats and gain 26,000 Republicans.
The Department of Justice issues guidelines governing how states can and can't be carved up, and they must approve a map before it can be put into action.
Currently, redistricting is done by legislators and is a highly partisan affair. With every redistricting comes a court challenge from one side or the other, claiming that the lines are unfair.
But under new legislation recently passed by the state House, the process would become staff-driven, with a simple up-or-down vote by legislators. It's based on a system long used by Iowa, where no redistricting has been to court in the four decades since the system was put into place.
The measure is now headed to the Senate.
Speak up
Weigh in on new Congressional districts
A public hearing on the new Congressional district maps will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at Western Carolina University in the Cordelia Camp Building.
It is one of nine across the state on the same day and time. There is also one in the Ferguson Auditorium at A-B Tech.
The hearings are sponsored by the Joint House and Senate Redistricting Committee, and anyone wishing to comment can sign up online at www.ncga.state.nc.us or in person the day of the hearing. Written comments can also be submitted on the North Carolina General Assembly's Website.


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By Peter Munro
AS PLEDGES go it is not exactly poetry, with its clunking dedication to democracy, rights, liberties and laws. Even the bard who conceived the words some 30,000 Australian citizens will proudly recite to their country on Saturday likens them to ''farting with sincerity''.
'''Ha, ha, ha' or 'Not a bad place' would be better,'' the poet Les Murray said. The act of reaffirming your loyalty was akin to Nazi Germany, the poet added. ''Why should I, the citizen, have to affirm any bloody thing towards the nation?''
More than 100 councils will host affirmation ceremonies on Australia Day for people who are already citizens. The numbers facing the national flag to take the voluntary pledge, which has no legal effect, rose 37 per cent between 2011 and 2012.
Murray will not stand among them. ''I have spent most of my life living here and taking it for granted, and I think that is a healthy way to be,'' he said.
''What is the nation feeling guilty about to force this rubbish on us? Everybody now feels like a provisional citizen; you haven't got any rights any more, only affirmations.''
The French motto of ''Liberty, equality, fraternity'' was forged in the heat of revolution. The Australian Citizenship Affirmation was in effect born over tea and cake in Taree.
The vow was derived almost entirely from the pledge of allegiance taken by new Australian citizens, which Murray helped draft in a wedding reception centre in 1992.
The Bard of Bunyah reckoned his ''rhythms and prose style'' were subsequently ruined by bureaucrats, who also excised his preferred tag line: ''I expect Australia to be loyal to me.''
The resulting citizenship pledge, which reflected more politics than poetry, was rolled out for new Australians in 1994. Affirmation ceremonies along the same lines were introduced in NSW in 1999.
Patriotic citizens are awarded a certificate for publicly affirming ''my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I uphold and obey''.
The National Australia Day chief executive, Warren Pearson, said the affirmation ''gives everyone the opportunity to stand up and express their pride in being Australian''.
Murray had a different interpretation of the wording. ''It's heavy and pompous and sort of farting with sincerity,'' he said.
''If you're born an Australian citizen or become one that should be it. They're laying too much emphasis on nationalism altogether.''


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Pulse Secure Virtual Traffic Manager Community & BYOL Edition
Product Overview
This Community and BYOL Edition offers all the features of the Pulse vTM and Pulse vWAF so you can use it in test, development & production environments but is limited to 10Mbps throughput & has a cluster limit of 4 instances. No support is available for the Community Edition. Resources and documentation are available via the Pulse user community. This high-performance Load Balancer & application delivery controller is designed to deliver fast, secure, reliable access to web sites & applications & offers HA via active-active deployment. To use this AMI to set up a BYOL License, please refer to the Getting Started Guide. The 18.3 version (or later) can be deployed on the nitro instance types. Older versions will also be limited to 1Mbps.
Pulse vTM controls & optimizes end-user services by inspecting, transforming, prioritizing & routing application traffic, applying a range of optimization techniques to ensure that incoming requests are presented in the most appropriate manner to back-end servers. Pulse vWAF surrounds applications with a strong security perimeter that establishes a secure session identifier, proactively encrypts cookies & URLs & applies site usage enforcement. Signatures & ID tools secure common vulnerabilities. Receive real-time alerts & reports, application behavior for full audit tracking & logging. Test rulesets in shadow mode prior to enforcing behavior & improve performance by creating white & black lists. It helps meet PCI-DSS 6.6 requirements.
Operating System
Linux/Unix, Ubuntu 20.04
Delivery Methods


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Talk:Hardware Hacking
Is it useful to have those hardware devices? And what is the difference between "project devices" and "supported devices". I think I can name several dozen more devices that run linux (most NAS-es, digital media players and several routers and voip boxes (e.g. the Fritz!box) fall into this category, but is that useful???
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Database vendor Ingres is targeting public and private clouds, announcing on Wednesday three managed services for application development, storage and analytics.
The company's new SkySafe platform includes a single repository for transactional, real-time or analytic data stores as well as an array of security features.
Along with SkySafe, Ingres announced SkyInsight, an analytics offering that uses its VectorWise analytic database technology. Customers will be able to use the reporting and analysis tools of their choosing, according to the company.
A third offering, SkyArchive, provides data archiving and uses advanced compression to cut costs, Ingres said.
SkySafe is available on "the most popular public clouds," including Amazon Web Services, as well as in private cloud form. Pricing will vary depending on the particular customer's configuration. SkyStorage and SkyInsight are set for release in April.
Ingres made its moves based on feedback from customers, who wanted the elasticity cloud deployments provide, said senior vice president of marketing Ketan Karia.
Moving forward, the company intends to aggressively court partners that will offer services, tools and applications on top of SkySafe, said CEO Terry Garnett. Ingres will be able to serve as a compelling alternative to rivals such as Oracle, Garnett said.
"The customer control and pricing that Oracle is going to eventually extract from you, that's going to be a lot more painful than working with us," he said. He referred to Salesforce.com's recently announced Database.com service, which is based partly on Oracle's database.
Still, Ingres' plans drew a lukewarm response from analyst Curt Monash of Monash Research.
"This is a completely me-too announcement," he said. "Every software-only analytic DBMS should run in the public cloud, and almost all the others already do," he said. And although VectorWise has "a clever architecture," the technology is still maturing, Monash said.
Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is email@example.com


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Welcome to our digital construction zone! We're thrilled to announce that our website is currently undergoing a makeover to bring you an enhanced browsing experience. While we're hard at work behind the scenes, you can still explore our existing content.
Feel free to navigate through the available sections, and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need assistance. We appreciate your patience and can't wait to unveil the exciting updates we have in store.
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Editor's Note: Jeff Bridges has worked for more than 30 years on issues concerning childhood hunger here and abroad. He founded the End Hunger Network in 1983 to organize the entertainment industry around this cause. Since 2010, Jeff has been the national spokesperson for Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry® campaign to end childhood hunger in America.
Story highlights
Jeff Bridges is the national spokesperson for the "No Kid Hungry" Campaign
No Kid Hungry aims to end childhood hunger in America
Campaign also provides free meals for kids 18 and younger throughout the summer
No Kid Hungry also teaches low-income families how to shop smarter
When I was growing up, I had everything I needed. My wonderful parents, Dorothy and Lloyd, made sure we had nutritious food and they taught us where food came from.
I have been blessed in many ways, and my wife, Sue, and I have been fortunate enough to pass that on to our own four daughters. We've never had to worry about how we'd feed our family.
Other families in America are not as fortunate as I have been.
Few Americans realize that the majority of low-income children in this country get most of their nutrition at school. Whether it's the free breakfast, reduced-priced lunch or after-school snacks, these federally funded meal programs provide a critical safety net for families struggling to put food on the table.
However, there is a huge gap in the number of children who could be getting these meals and the number actually accessing them.
For instance, many children are not getting the food they need in the summer. When school is out, many children lose their primary source of nutrition. Of the 20 million children who get lunch at school during the regular school year, only 1 in 7 are getting free meals in the summertime.
The breakfast statistics are sobering as well. Of the same 20 million children who get lunch at school, only 10.5 million kids are eating school breakfast. That kind of gap is unacceptable.
Kids who come to school hungry get sick more frequently. They have more trouble concentrating on their schoolwork and struggle with their studies. This has a huge effect on their potential for success later in life, and that's not good for our country. As my good friend (and founder of Share Our Strength) Bill Shore always says, we can't have a strong America with weak kids.
That's where the No Kid Hungry campaign works so beautifully.
It connects kids to the healthy food they need every day, where they live, learn and play. This happens through partnerships with schools, mayors, state governors, political leaders, nonprofit organizations, corporations, chefs, celebrities such as me and with people like you. The campaign works to come up with innovative ways to bridge this gap.
For example, moving school breakfast out of the cafeteria and into the classroom – where everyone eats together – means more kids start the day with a healthy meal. Breakfast after the bell programs have already been championed in cities such as Baltimore and Los Angeles, and they're working really well.
There is good news for kids who need meals this summer, too. The Summer Food Service Program – a federally funded program – provides free meals for people 18 and younger in cities all across America. This year, a national texting program has been put in place to help connect even more kids to meals.
And No Kid Hungry's Cooking Matters program ensures kids are getting healthy meals at home by empowering low-income families with the skills to shop smarter, use nutrition information and cook delicious, affordable meals.
Our children are our future, and it's up to me – and to all of us – to make sure we prepare them to be productive citizens and thrive in our communities. Ensuring our kids have the nutritious food they need is the very first step to getting them there.
Join me in making No Kid Hungry a reality.


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SALT LAKE CITY – Utah state attorneys filed their opening argument to the federal appeals court reviewing the state's same-sex marriage ban, saying the optimal environment for raising children is with a mother and father.
The voluminous brief, filed late Monday ahead of a midnight deadline, is the first step in a process that will lead to an April 10 hearing before the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The court will then decide if it agrees with a federal judge in Utah who in mid-December overturned the 2004-voter passed ban saying it violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. The appeals court also is reviewing a similar decision about Oklahoma's ban.
Attorneys for three gay and lesbian couples who sued Utah have until Feb. 25 to respond.
The state contends redefining marriage poses "real, concrete risks to children" because not having a mother or father leads to emotional damage. The state said its duty is to look out for the long-term interests of children who can't defend themselves. The state also believes allowing same-sex marriages would lead to reduced birth rates, which would bring demographic and economic crisis.
"The diversity of having both a mom and a dad is the ideal parenting environment," wrote Gene Schaerr, an outside attorney who has been hired by the state to defend the law. "That model is not intended to demean other family structures, any more than giving an A to some students demeans others."
The state made similar arguments in court papers filed before the U.S. Supreme Court in early January when it asked the justices to halt gay marriages that were occurring in Utah. The high court approved the request, granting an emergency stay while the 10th Circuit considers the case.
Attorneys representing three gay and lesbian Utah couples scoffed at the notion that gay and lesbian couples make inferior parents, saying the state provides no scientific evidence to back its claim.
Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said Tuesday the state's brief offers no justification for harming sex-sex couples and their families.
"The law should support all families, not make it harder for some families to take care of themselves and their children," Minter said in an emailed statement. "Our Constitution does not tolerate laws that single out a group of people in order to treat them unequally."
More than 1,000 gay couples married in Utah before the Supreme Court granted the stay last month. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has instructed state agencies to stop granting benefits to the couples, save for allowing them to jointly file taxes.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, meanwhile, said the federal government will recognize the marriages and grant corresponding benefits.
Utah state attorneys believe the appeals court ultimately will decide the validity of the marriages, but gay rights attorneys think the marriages should remain valid no matter what the court decides.
Utah's gay marriage ban was passed by 66 percent of voters in 2004. In the brief, the state says U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby did not give "proper deference to the choice of Utah's citizens" when he struck down the ban in a surprise Dec. 20 ruling.


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In The Spotlight
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Over the past few years the university has flourished in both academics and athletics, as well as increased rankings, drawing in a more diverse and competitive student body.
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Students who major in biochemistry can explore careers in science, healthcare, research, and teaching as well as pursue higher degrees in science.
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Nintendo Reports 1st Annual Loss With Weak Wii Sales
TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo Co. sank into a 43.2 billion yen ($533 million) loss for the fiscal year just ended as weak sales of the Wii home console and the strong yen eroded earnings.
Kyoto-based Nintendo, once the star of video games with franchises like Pokemon and Super Mario, has seen its glory fade with the advent of smartphones that are wooing away casual gamers.
Nintendo, whose products compete against offerings from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp., acknowledged sales suffered because of the price cut on the 3DS during the fiscal year.
Such price cuts are relatively common to boost slow sales and try to make up in profit later from game software sales. But that strategy has chipped away at Nintendo's earnings.
Nintendo, which did not break down quarterly numbers, had reported a 77.6 billion yen profit the previous fiscal year.
But the company was upbeat about a turnaround on the back of the upgrade to its Wii called "Wii U," set to go on sale at the end of this year — critical because of year-end shopping revenue.
Nintendo also said it will continue pushing its online "Nintendo Network" service that will link players of the Wii U, which will come with a touch-screen controller, with those of its handheld Nintendo 3DS offering three-dimensional imagery.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has repeatedly denied smartphones are a threat to his business. In the past, Nintendo scored success by appealing to people who aren't hard-core gamers.
Iwata has said the company has learned from the mistakes of the 3DS launch and will do the Wii U launch right.
Nintendo's annual sales plunged 36 percent to 647.7 billion yen ($8 billion). That was worse than the company's earlier forecast at 660 billion yen ($8.1 billion) and the 670 billion yen ($8.3 billion) analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast.
Nintendo sold 9.8 million Wii machines over the fiscal year just ended, fewer than the 15 million it had sold the previous fiscal year, and below its initial hopes of selling 13 million machines.
It remained optimistic for the fiscal year through March 2013, and forecast sales of 10.5 million Wii machines.
Also damaging for Nintendo was a strong yen, which erodes the value of overseas earnings of Japanese manufacturers. The dollar dropped to 70 yen levels in recent months, although it has recently recovered to about 80 yen.
Nintendo stuck to its forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, to swerve back into the black at 20 billion yen ($247 million).
Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press
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With the New Year nearly upon us, I'm sure many of you have already made plans for how you will be celebrating its arrival. But visitors to Hong Kong are in for a particular treat this year, as the city welcomes 2013 with an impressive display of fireworks that will also mark the culmination of its annual WinterFest celebration.
Hong Kong's New Years Eve celebration has become legendary for its festive atmosphere that rivals any other on the planet. Hundreds of thousands of people will line the beautiful and iconic Victoria Harbor in anticipation of the start of another year and to witness an amazing pyrotechnic display that is timed to begin just as the clock strikes midnight. This year, the eight-minute fireworks display will be launched from both land and sea for the first time, giving visitors an experience like none other. That display will be synchronized with a sweeping musical accompaniment that has been written specifically for the celebration.
Obviously if you're not already in Hong Kong, it will be difficult to join in on the festivities there, but it is not too early to start planning a visit for next year. The city's New Year's Eve bash is one of the best in the world and is well worth planning a trip around. I recommend arriving plenty early in order to enjoy WinterFest as well, as that annual event is a fantastic way to enjoy the holiday season. The festival is a mix of world-class shopping and culinary delights that is sure to please.
[Photo Credit: Kroot via WikiMedia]


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University of Tulsa Pool Table Cover
The University of Tulsa Pool Table Cover (BCVTulsaU) is an investment to protect your pool table, one of the most valuable and cherished assets of the man cave. This pool table cover is hand-made in the USA using commercial-grade woven-back vinyl and includes the durable and detailed screen-printed Officially Licensed Golden Hurricane logo that will stand guard over the delicate felt of the table for years to come. The cover easily slips on and safeguards against any forces of evil including: children of any age or temperament, your best friend Klutzy Kevin who's favorite hobby is spilling drinks on expensive furniture, and scratching on the 8-ball (okay, we lied about the last one). Just as you wouldn't buy a car or house without paint, you shouldn't own a pool table without a custom Tulsa Golden Hurricane billiards table cover to safeguard your pride and joy.
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Critic's Pick
In what could easily have become an exhibition larded with cuteness, Children in American Art at the Dayton Art Institute instead provides an unusual journey through changing concepts of childhood in America.
It begins with a strange and stiff little figure from the 17th century, "Robert Gibbs at 4-1/2 Years." Young Gibbs appears as a miniature adult, in the fashion of the times, holding gloves as his father might, painted by an artist known only as the Freake-Gibbs painter.
Children continued to be seen as grown-ups throughout the 18th century. John Singleton Copley — far more sophisticated than the Freake-Gibbs artist — turned out a pair of precocious sisters, "Mary and Elizabeth Royall," so elegantly dressed that their purpose might be to advertise the family fortunes. The transplanted Scotsman, John Smibert, portrayed three brothers in a portrait for the record, including one who had died five years before and who here has an otherworldly look.
One wonders if ordinary life had become easier by the time 1800 rolled around, as children now are allowed to be children and can be seen actually having fun. Ralph Earl's "Stryker Sisters" shows the awkwardness this painter never escaped, but the girls are alive. Samuel B. Morse skates close to sentimentality with "Little Miss Hone," a good child feeding a well-behaved kitten, but we can't help smiling.
By the mid-19th century, genre painting put subjects into natural settings and children, even in formal portraits, are seen in something approximating daily lives. These are American children, no question, taking part in American experiences.
An extremely interesting work, engaging despite its suggestion of formality, is William Matthew Prior's "Three Sisters of the Samuel Copeland Family" (1854). The family is among this painter's African-American clients, from a small but apparently prosperous group of free blacks in New England before the Civil War.
The American experience took a blow to the heart and mind with the Civil War. Eastman Johnson shows a boy, far too young for his cadet's uniform, in "Writing to Father" (1863). Clearly, father is away at war.
Later in the century industrialization touched children as well as adults. City kids sometimes had hard lives; see John George Brown's "Tuckered Out — The Shoeshine Boy." By the decades flanking the turn of the 20th century, American wealth was solid, and top-flight artists recorded children of top-flight families, as John Singer Sargent did with "Helen Sears," whose shoes one could write home about.
The signature work of the exhibition, Mary Cassatt's "Ellen Mary in a White Coat," is a tour-de-force of painting. The sumptuous coat enhances rather than detracts from Mary Ellen, who appears to be a child of character. Her hands and feet receive slight attention, but her face projects a serious individuality.
The show provides a fine mix of acknowledged masters and works by anonymous or little-known artists. "Child in a Rocking Chair" (1876), by one of the latter, is strange but fascinating. The child subject has a large and worried head, out of proportion with its tiny protruding feet. While these untutored works have their own interest, it is a relief and pleasure to come upon Winslow Homer's "Boys in a Pasture" (1874), in which every element is simple and perfect.
Wall texts line out the exhibition's theme and provide an interesting take on American history. All the paintings come from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, except three from Youngstown's Butler Institute of American Art and a work from Dayton's own collection.
CHILDREN IN AMERICAN ART is on view at the Dayton Art Institute through Jan. 4, 2009. Get gallery details and find nearby bars and restaurants here.


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What's the best way to enter text on an all-screen phone? Some would say there is no good way, that nothing remotely compares to physical keys and screens are no good for anything much longer than a Tweet. I don't agree, but it has to be admitted that on-screen keyboards like the default ones on iPhone and Android are no pleasure to use. Simply put, you're never going to touch-type on keys you can't feel, and the addition of "haptic feedback" – the fancy name for a buzzer that goes off when a key is pressed – does little to help. The old T9 predictive texting was faster.
Prediction can be used here too of course; a system like autocorrect on the iPhone helps – just not much. (And it can go famously wrong.) It's very much a band-aid for a flawed approach. Far faster, because they play to a screen's strengths, are systems that work by drawing a line through letters instead of tapping each one, like Swype.
So effective is it unfortunately that Swype has some exclusive deals with phone makers, meaning it comes pre-installed on certain better Androids but is unobtainable for the rest (though you can get a beta version). It's not yet available for iPhone either, though curiously it is for Symbian.
But why write with one finger? Typing with both thumbs is much quicker, especially if you have a big screen. And there are some nice keyboards designed especially for it, split in the middle to be more literally under your thumb. Again though the lack of feel slows things down. Logically a good combination should be a thumboard and prediction – Swiftkey is probably the most famous example – but I've yet to find one that I really enjoy using.
So what about handwriting recognition? Writing with a pen is never as fast as typing of course, but that's comparing it to real keys. The great thing about a pen (or stylus) for a screen is that it doesn't require tactile feedback. So it's a perfect fit? In theory, I think so.
In practise, not always. Decent recognition of cursive handwriting was only achieved on desktop computers a few years ago, so it's a lot to expect from a phone. Users of Samsung Galaxy phones will probably have tried the inbuilt handwriting recognition – and given up again sharply. It's tedious to use, thanks to low accuracy and an overcomplicated interface. There are other apps in the marketplace of course, but some of them are pretty expensive.
And then there's 7notes with Mazec. Let's face it, the name could've been more informative. A lot of people will overlook this because it's presented as a note-taking app, and there are countless note-taking apps on Google Play and iTunes. 7notes doesn't even seem a particularly good one – though it has the unusual ability to store handwritten notes and convert them to type later. Its 'secret' however is the Mazec text entry system. This installs like a keyboard and so can be used to write with any app, not just 7notes. Only it takes pen strokes instead of key presses.
Perfect it's not – could handwriting recognition ever be? – but it can convert scrawl to type with impressive speed and accuracy, comparing well to the pen input in Windows. Obviously it's ideal for use with a stylus, (and to any other owners of the Galaxy Note out there I say simply: Get this now), but it works very well with a finger.
And it's cheap. Despite its Japanese-language sibling costing an astonishing (for an app) €9.70, the English version is only 99c for Android and Kindle Fire, and free for the iPhone and iPad. Best cost-to-usage ratio I've ever found in an app. It's my default 'keyboard' now.
I just wrote this with it.


text: All NewsSnapshotsC-CERT Team Keeps Campus Safe after Winter Storm Nemo Olivia DrakeFebruary 20, 201311minWesleyan's Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT), made up of trained Wesleyan staff and faculty members, activated three times after Winter Storm Nemo. While Wesleyan's grounds crew and grounds contractor Stonehedge worked to clear snow from the main campus pathways, sidewalks and parking areas, the C-CERT team worked to inspect and clear all emergency exits near academic and administrative buildings. Roseann Sillasen, associate director/project manager in Physical Plant-Facilities, examined an entry/exit door at the Center for the Arts on Feb. 11. The team met at 6 a.m. to help prepare the campus for opening. C-CERT member Jennifer Curran, associate director of student services and outreach for Graduate Liberal Studies, shoveled a path to the Center for Film Studies' side doors and cleared the area around the doors so they could open. In the event of an emergency, building occupants may need to exit the building through the doors. C-CERT members cleared two doorways at Malcolm X House. Pictured in the foreground are Krishna Winston, the Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, director of the Service Learning Center; and Peter Staye, director of utilities management. C-CERT member Dan LaBonte, area coordinator for Residential Life, shoveled out heating vents at Park Washington Apartments. C-CERT members also assisted Wesleyan staff and faculty on Feb. 13 by directing them to open parking spaces. With a parking ban in effect, employees were not allowed to park on city streets. Wesleyan's Transportation Services offered shuttle rides for those parking away from campus. Pictured is Mario Velasquez, facilities manager at Physical Plant-Facilities, who manned Parking Lot E near Beckham Hall. C-CERT member Debra Holman, facilities manager in Physical Plant-facilities, helped campus visitors find parking near the Office of Admission on Feb. 13. C-CERT members Stacy Baldwin, construction project coordinator, and Simon Bostick, public safety officer, helped campus employees find parking near Lawn Avenue. Parking Lot L, located near the Butterfield Residences on Lawn Avenue, was full by 10 a.m. C-CERT members Simon Bostick; Peter Staye, director of utilities management; and Doug Allen, chemistry facilities manager assistant, directed vehicles to alternative parking areas. C-CERT members delivered shovels to students living in wood-frame and program housing. C-CERT member Joyce Topshe, associate vice president for facilities, loaded her vehicle full of shovels and dispersed them on campus. C-CERT member Sherri Condon, accounting specialist for auxiliary operations and campus services, speaks to fellow C-CERT members through a two-way radio transceiver from McConaughy parking lot, located at Long Lane Farm on Long Lane. The C-CERT team used the radios to communicate to each other and Transportation Services. The Wesleyan C-CERT snowman kept C-CERT member Olivia Drake, Wesleyan Connection editor and campus photographer, company at the Smith Field parking lot. Transportation Services helped shuttle Wesleyan employees to campus. C-CERT members met for briefings at Wesleyan's Physical Plant before and after their shift. All C-CERT members are volunteers. For more information on C-CERT, contact Bill Nelligan at wnelligan @ wesleyan.edu. (Contributed photos) CERTemployees Related Articles All NewsCampus News & EventsCommunity Impact February 21, 2024 Editorial Staff How Did We Get Here? Wesleyan Puts Democracy in Action All NewsCampus News & Events February 21, 2024 Mike Mavredakis Civic Education Must be Made Priority for Young People, Panel Says All NewsCampus News & EventsCommunity ImpactStudents February 21, 2024 Editorial Staff Students Engage with Democracy at Media Literacy Workshop, Civic Action Fair


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It was my first BSD conference, and it was very interesting.
This conference permit to meet lot's of people from the *BSD world:
– Pawel Jakub Dawidek (The GEOM guru) presented his actual work for porting ZFS under FreeBSD 7.0 and it was an incredible demonstration!!! (I never see ZFS in action before).
Pawel confirm me that ZFS and RAID-Z feature will simplifier a lot the FreeNAS disks management by adding a powerful Volume Management tools into FreeBSD.
=> As soon as FreeBSD 7.0 will be available, FreeNAS will migrate on it for using ZFS!
But Pawels work alone for this task, and he need other developers: Then if you know C programming, filesystem and optionally FreeBSD, please help him on this big task!
– Scott Ullrich and Chris Buechler (the pfSense guys). Talking with them permit to learn a lot about their experience from pfSense. They have created a company for professional services on m0n0wall and pfSense too (this permit to reassure some company about using these open source firewalls).
I've learn that pfSense use only the WebGUI of m0n0wall, and all the base system is create using FreeSBIE. I understand now why there are so differences between the core of m0n0wall and pfSense.
– Marko Zec did an excellent demonstration of the Network stack virtualization with FreeBSD. He shows us how, from one FreeBSD server, create 10 routers (including routing between) in less than 5 seconds 😉
– George Neville-Neil gives an interesting lesson about security with IPv6.
Bad news, IPv6 seems to have the same security problem as IPv4: And he does a demonstration with NDP poisoning (same as ARP poisoning on IPv4).
Good news: There are peoples who are testing IPv6 a lot, and when it will be fully used, these problems should be resolved.
– Andrew Clunis permit me to play a little with a prototype of a One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). But I can't participate to its presentation because I was giving the FreeNAS presentation at the same time.
And there were lot's of other events that I can't participate (there are 3 conferences in at the same times): The Varnish HTTP accelerator (Poul-Henning Kamp), PC-BSD (Matt Olander), Portsnap (Colin Percival), How Open Source Projects Survive Poisonous People (Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman), etc….


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For Whom Is Worship?
Peter Leithart
For whom is worship? "For God, of course," comes the answer. "Worship is our response to God's grace. In worship, we give God the praise and honor he deserves. True, we may receive something in worship, we may be edified, but that is a very minor and secondary part of worship. Worship is theocentric."
Truly Reformed Worship?
Slogans such as these have come to define "Truly Reformed" worship in our day. This emphasis is understandable, since modern worship, infused as it is with the ethos of pop culture, has become deeply narcissistic. In reaction to seeker-sensitive worship, which focuses on the needs of the worshiper, Reformed writers insist that worship is about our giving, not about our receiving. Reformed as it sounds, this perspective is one-sided at best, false at worst, and definitely more Arminian than Reformed.
Well, what's wrong with saying that worship is for God? For starters, it implies that worship is purely our response to God. It presents this picture: Somewhere, outside a worship service, God saved me. Having been saved, I have a duty to gather with God's people to thank him for his mercy and praise him for his greatness. Outside the church door, I sought and found God's grace. Once inside, I am not a seeker after grace, but a giver of praise. It is impossible, however, for any human action to be a response pure and simple. To entertain that possibility is to assume we can be autonomous, independent of God: once God has worked in us, we can respond to him without having to rely on his continual working in us. That, of course, is exactly what Reformed theology denies.
Scripture does not merely say that God works first, and then we respond. It says that our response is yet another work of God. It says that even when we give, we are simultaneously, and primarily, receiving. Thus, it is not as if we are recipients of grace until we walk through the door. We rely on God's work in us in worship as much as anywhere else, and it is only because we are acting by the power of the Spirit that our actions in worship bring honor to God.
Worship, like everything else in the Christian life, is by grace through faith. Stepping through the church door doesn't magically transform Calvinists into Arminians.
The Means of Grace
The second problem with this perspective is that it implicitly denies the Reformed understanding of the means of grace. According to all the Reformed confessions, the Word and sacraments are actual and effective means of grace, by which the Spirit gives the presence and power of the risen Christ to the faithful of God.
"What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?" asks Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #88. And it answers that "the word, sacraments, and prayer ... are made effective to the elect for salvation." Word and sacrament are the main foci of worship, and both are God's means of "communicating benefits" to us. Worship is thus not mainly about what we do before God's face; it is mainly about what God is doing to and in us.
The service of the Lord's Day is God's action: he calls us into his presence; he declares our sins forgiven; he speaks his word of comfort, rebuke, and encouragement; he feeds us at his table; and he sends us back into the world. Of course, at each point, we also respond: when God invites us in, we enter; when he absolves our sins, we praise his grace in his Son; we tremble at his threats and believe his promises; we eat and drink at his banquet; and when he sends us out, we go. But these are responses and depend on the Spirit's work.
Humanistic Assumptions?
We assemble in the first instance because we believe God has promised to do things for us. This may seem to be a brief for "seeker-sensitive worship," but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the errors of contemporary worship arise from the very assumptions I'm attacking here. Contemporary worship is not grounded in the conviction that Word and sacrament are genuine means of grace. That's why all sorts of things substitute for Word and sacramentanecdotal pep talks, puppet shows, drama, whatever. Contemporary services do not rest on the assumption that God is acting in the worship service; what's important is what the worship team is doing to gain the attention of the unbelievers in the audience.
Reformed churches that trumpet the idea that the Lord's Day service is for God are simultaneously adopting many of the practices of contemporary worship, and that is no accident. Both arise from the same basic liturgical theology because both deny, at least implicitly, that worship is God's ministry to us. Ultimately, the problem is that this perspective shapes a worship that is not truly theocentric because it is not centered on the true God. It envisions the God we worship as some kind of Oriental potentate, sitting passively enthroned while his people, gathered far, far below, seek desperately to please him. God is indeed an exalted King, but his kingship is not of this world. He is lifted up on a cross, adorned with a crown of thorns. He reveals himself as King not by taking our gifts, but by giving gifts, by giving himself.
Entering his presence to seek his mercy, to receive his gifts, to listen humbly to his Word, and to feed thankfully at his tablethat is genuine Christian theocentrism.
The author, a PCA minister, teaches at New St. Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho. This article is reprinted with permission from Credenda-Agenda, vol. 12, no. 3. Reprinted from New Horizons, April 2002.


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By Gordon Platt
Constant innovation and unwavering commitment to the business have helped the world's leading investment banks better serve their clients and build their market share.
The investment banking industry continues to evolve as a result of the financial crisis and attempts to ensure that the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression does not recur. New regulations are still being written in various jurisdictions around the world. In Britain, for example, the government is considering whether to force banks to separate their retail and investment-banking arms, although nothing is likely to happen until after the Independent Commission on Banking presents its recommendations in September.
In Europe the sovereign-debt crisis caused many companies to avoid financings and takeovers last year. Freeman Consulting estimates that investment banking fees in Europe declined by 10% in 2010 to the lowest in six years. In the Americas, by contrast, fees from mergers and acquisitions jumped by 52%, and income from record high-yield debt deals rose 76% from 2009.
The financial crisis began with the bursting of the US housing bubble and the implosion of the shadow banking system. Nonetheless, it is the Wall Street banks that have rebounded most quickly and that have taken the lead in developing new business models that rely less on proprietary trading and more on asset management, securities underwriting and advice on mergers and acquisitions.
The best investment banks put their clients' interests first, help companies and government entities raise capital more efficiently and provide valuable advice on financial restructuring and takeovers. Global Finance editors, with input from industry analysts, used a series of objective and subjective criteria to identify the best investment banks in a wide range of categories, by both geography and sector.
Our selection criteria included market share, customer service and advice, deal-structuring capabilities, distribution network, and staff dedicated to investment banking. We also considered efforts to overcome difficult market conditions, pricing and after-market performance of underwritten securities, and market reputation.


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Del. ads tell young, healthy why they need insurance
Getting young, healthy people to sign up for insurance coverage helps keep prices low for the rest of us. That's part of the thinking behind Delaware's new media campaign.
It includes TV and radio spots and a little humor. In a series of vignettes, young people run into everyday ― and expensive ― mishaps.
One young man stubs his finger on the basketball court, another wipes out on his skateboard. After each scene, the health care cost flashes across the screen.
You might not see it in the TV version, but in the director's cut, there's even a vignette that suggests that health insurance comes in handy for STD testing after a romantic evening out.
The ad ends with this call to action: "Accidents happen, so do huge medical bills. Find out how to get health insurance coverage by visiting choosehealthde.com."
Aaron Smith, executive director of the national organization Young Invincibles, says Delaware's ads smartly hammer home the "price" of living without insurance.
"Don't try to sell young people on some fancy product," Smith said. "It's a financial decision."
Smith likes the ads, but says TV is only a small part of what's necessary.
"I think you need to be on the ground," Smith said. "You need to talk to people face to face. Some of the best outreach I've seen is to parents, to moms in particular."
Smith's organization ― Young Invincibles ― will visit Philadelphia Saturday to teach nonprofit groups new ways to reach younger adults.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.


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Christmas Caroling in a Helicopter? Why the Heck Not
Talk about hitting the high notes.
In a scene that makes the Uber "All I Want Is You" supercut look tame, a quartet of people lip sync some classic Christmas songs while in a helicopter.
There are a variety of tunes here covering an array of moods, from the majestic and wondrous tones of "Christmas Canon" by Trans Siberian Orchestra to the feel-good anthem "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey.
Why this foursome elected to pull this stunt in a helicopter is as much of a mystery as how exactly Santa Claus manages to circumnavigate the globe in one short night. We're also a little unsure how the logistics of recording this went down -- it's a tiny helicopter, after all.
We're not going to let a little skepticism get us down, though. It's the holiday season, after all -- we need a little magic in our lives, right?


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I have noticed that when I find myself sleep deprived my singing voice gets greatly impaired. It is difficult to reach and sustain higher notes and it's like my voice muscles are "sore".
I guess that's a given, considering I'm tired, but I wanted to know what are the implications of these less than optimal nights in my voice. Should I avoid singing in this kind of situation? Can this permanently damage my voice? Can this be corrected by posterior well rested nights?